Reconnaissance Run
Title: '''Harrier Recon '''Players: Heather O'Leary, Elizabeth Maxwell, and Michael Donovan Location: '''Maxwell Ranch and L.A.: LAX '''Synopsis: '''So there's a Harrier at LAX. The questions are: Does it have fuel? And how many guards are there at night? Time to go find out. Dangerous volunteer missions… ''LOG BEGINS'' Heather O'Leary arrives from Basement. Elizabeth Maxwell is off in a corner of the training area, staring at a set of papers from the printer upstairs, and an M16 in her lap, hmming slightly to herself, and trying to strip it and put it back together. Heather O'Leary steps into the training room, in her normal workout clothes. She glances at Liz, "Something wrong, dear?" Elizabeth Maxwell jumps slightly as she hears a voice, then glances over and smiles. "Not really. Just learning how to unjam it and such." Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "I see… You want to know how to use an M16, eh? Well, they aren't too hard." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs. "I didn't figure. Just point and pull trigger, yes? The main issue is jamming or mechanical failure, and that's why being able to take it apart and unjam it, not to mention clean it, is important. Or am I totally off the mark?" Heather O'Leary nods, "Pretty much. Although, if you wanted to avoid most jams, you could learn to use an AK-47. You can drop one of those in Mud, than dry dirt… Wipe the receiver and bullet ejector clean, and fire… And it won't jam. Much like the Uzi, it is almost impossible to jam. Although, the M16 is slightly more accurate." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms and shrugs. "Whichever is easiest to get ammunition for, I guess. Since the AK isn't as local…" Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Ammo for either is readily available." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms and nods. "Well, whichever you think then. I think I've figured out how to strip it down and put it together, for this one…" Heather O'Leary nods, "M16's are probably better for you… Lighter, more accurate…" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit and smiles. "Suppose so, then. I'd hate to think of how heavy some of the bigger things are. Like that heavy machine gun Martin brought to the Barn. I'd probably never get close to getting a shot off, it'd probably knock me clear over when I pulled the trigger." Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "Well, with the M-60, your best bet is to fire it from a prone position…" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "Yes, it has legs for that, I noticed. Still, that's a rather vulnerable position…" Heather O'Leary nods, "That is why you don't see a lot of people using one of them in our kind of raids. Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little. "Yes, I know. Here I've been trying to think of some way to possibly silence the laser pistols for being too loud, and he brings something that can probably be heard a few miles away." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "I don't think we have any reason to worry… from what I heard, most people around here would support us, if they knew what we were doing." Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "Yeah, I know. Still… I guess I'm just used to the idea that things should be done quietly. Anything inside LA will have to be, anyway…" Heather O'Leary nods, "As long as Bates enforces the No Weapons law… Yeah. Neutral City… Fucking traitor…" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little and sighs. "Yeah…" She glances back down at the weapon again, and back up. "Need to learn to shoot this straight, then once I can do that…" She hmms a little and smiles. "I'm fairly terrible hand to hand right at the moment, I should probably learn more." Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "I suppose I could teach you some of my Martial-Arts… But you don't do too bad at the Hand to Hand stuff…" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little bit, setting the weapon down and getting up and walking over. "Thanks… It's nice of you to say that… I guess I'm just nervous about going against anyone unarmed." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Until you actually do it when you have to, you worry… I know how it is." Michael Donovan arrives from Basement. Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Ah. I suppose so…" she stretches a bit. "So what have you been doing?" Heather O'Leary shakes her head, "Not much… Just came down here to get a workout in. Maybe a little weight lifting, and some katas." Michael Donovan wanders into the room, looking genuinely surprised to find anyone else down here at this particular point in time. "I'm sorry," he says curtly. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Elizabeth Maxwell glances over to Mike and smiles brightly. "Not at all. Hi." Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Evening Mike. Just a little chit-chat. Nothing important tonight." She looks thoughtful, "I could use your advice Mike, though…" She sighs softly, and hates feeling like she needs to ask someone this, but it is not really her place to do something without approval, not of this nature anyway. Michael Donovan shrugs casually at Heather's request, seeming at least slightly concerned at the sigh that follows it. "I've got two ears, no waiting," he replies with a friendly smirk. "What's on your mind, Heather?" Elizabeth Maxwell glances over to Heather and blinks a little bit at the sigh. Heather O'Leary says simply, "The Visitors have a Harrier at LAX…" She pauses, and glances at Elizabeth, than back to Mike, "I want to get it away from them, before they can learn the fastest way to take one down…" She pauses, "With enough time, they could figure out how to get into the Computer systems." She pauses, than shakes her head, "No, let me be totally honest, I want to get it away from them, because I flew Harriers… I can't stand the thought of them defiling one, and I would love to be able to fly a Harrier just once more before this war is over." She sighs, showing the weakness she didn't want to show, "But can I justify the possibility of injury to someone, just to satisfy my desire?" Michael Donovan frowns deeply as Heather's tale unfolds. "I'd be lying if I said I'm happy about the idea of people waltzing back into that place, especially after how fine you two cut it the last time." He takes a deep breath. "Still, I know the importance morale can have on people. I'm not assigning anyone to you. Anyone you take with you would be going strictly on a volunteer basis. The slightest hint that things are going sour and the mission is scrubbed." Elizabeth Maxwell listens quietly, then smiles at Heather. "And of course, you already have one volunteer. Just a matter of getting a few more now." Heather O'Leary nods slightly at Mike, "This time we wouldn't go in in broad daylight. From what Elias says, the Airfield at LAX quiets down after dark, and most of the guards leave. I was thinking some kind of diversion could be made near by, and that would give time for a Skyfighter or Squad Ship to drop me off, and cover me while I preflighted the Harrier. 10 minutes is all I would need to get it off the ground. 5 if I skipped the Weapons check." She smiles at Liz, "Talos volunteered to help too." Michael Donovan hmms thoughtfully, "Would they even keep the thing fueled? If they only have it there in order to study it, they don't necessarily need to get it off the ground, do they?" Heather O'Leary looks thoughtful, "Damn… You might be right… But if they captured it in one piece, there should still be enough fuel to get it away from them. Maybe not all the way back to the base, but enough to get it out of the city, and into hiding…. I'll run a recon of the airfield before we go in, to see if we need to bring along any fuel." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms at that and nods. "Bringing enough fuel to get a Harrier any distance would be a problem. Wouldn't it need a specialized fuel truck to fill it?" Heather O'Leary shakes her head, "In El Salvador we used 10 five gallon Gas Cans. That is enough for take off, as long as I don't use the Vertical Lift Systems, and for 10 minutes of flight. 10 minutes of Flight, I could get it out of the city, maybe to Anaheim and land somewhere. Than we could worry about fuel." Michael Donovan's mouth is in a perpetual frown at this point, "And there's always the chance of pursuers. If they get a skyfighter in the air after you…" Heather O'Leary nods, "That is why the person flying me in, is there. They can better defend against another Skyfighter, than I would… But if we can clear the Airfield of guards, by a good enough distraction, we could also plant explosives on all their Skyfighters and other Squad Ships on the ground, and disable their LAX force." Elizabeth Maxwell nods. "The one delivering would have to be using a skyfighter as armed escort. The other trouble will be disabling their comm equipment." You say, "If the tower isn't taken out completely as things start happening, they could probably scramble something from the ship." Michael Donovan takes a step back, "I can trust you two to think things through before putting things into motion. If it was anyone else here who came to me with this, I would have said 'no' outright." Heather O'Leary says softly, "Thanks Mike…." She pauses, than brightens, "I am not sure if I should be glad you trust us, or be afraid. Afraid because that means you trust us as much as you do Ham… And I don't think I want anything in common with Ham." Michael Donovan chuckles lightly, "We'll just say that the similarity ends there. For instance, after two minutes of talking to you, I don't feel the overwhelming urge to hit you in the jaw…" Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Oh, I bet I could change that… Especially by saying, that you might feel the urge, but you would not have much of a chance of succeeding." She winks. Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little at heather and rolls her eyes, tickling her a little at the waist. "silly." She hmms a little. "Still, getting the tower taken out before they can call for help from up top is going to be tricky." Heather O'Leary shakes her head, "That could be part of the distraction. Someone goes near it, drops a big wad of C-4, and Than gets the hell away. Blow the thing sky high, and watch as the Guards run to save people inside. Another explosion to get most of them…" She shrugs slightly, "I'm sure we can think of something." Michael Donovan tosses a wink at the two of you. "Sounds like this is shaping up to be the social event of the season…" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles, wrapping an arm around Heather then, and hugging her a little. "Yeah, it could be interesting. Aside from that, any added firepower is a good thing." Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "Well, I can make the Harrier Dance… with full VTOL Capabilities, it is more maneuverable than a Skyfighter, if not quite as fast." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs. "Because it was designed for flight in the air. The skyfighter is closer to bludgeoning a brick through the atmosphere." Michael Donovan shrugs at that, "Hey, they came here in huge, mile-long spaceships. I think it's safe to assume that whoever designed their military machinery didn't exactly have subtlety in mind…" Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Actually, no… The Skyfighter is better than a F-15, F-16… most any fighter, but the fact that if I use the Thrusters on the Harrier in the right fashion, you can turn on a dime in a Harrier. Almost like flying straight ahead, rotating, and firing at something behind you. Hard on the air frame, and you can only do it once or twice, before running out of Fuel for the thrusters, but it can surprise the hell out of a pursuing Skyfighter's pilot." Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "Definitely good. keeping enough fuel around to keep it airborne will be interesting…" She shakes her head. "It'd all have to be kept somewhere away from the buildings being in explosion radius. There's a reason fuel dumps are well away from other things, after all. If they're found, they're targets. I'm guessing we could /get/ the fuel from up north…" Heather O'Leary nods, "Or any local Airport. Harriers fly on the same thing as Private Jets, Cessna's, and Airliners." Michael Donovan takes a deep breath. "We might want to see if there's any sort of black market circles Elias might be able to flag down. If we need gas for this thing, we don't want it to be easily traced back to us." Elizabeth Maxwell nods. "That's the ugly thing. Fuel is probably being monitored. It's nice and explosive. And they'd probably be trying to prevent anyone from easily doing, well, exactly what we intend to be doing." Heather O'Leary nods, "We could probably get it down here from the Dust Zone, if we were careful… Might need to build some Storage Tanks somewhere though, so we don't have to have trucks coming down a lot… that is, if they even have it so it is flyable…" Michael Donovan grits his teeth slightly at that, "We'll have to worry about fuel after we get through the mission at hand, then." Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "If it is not flyable, I will destroy it." She doesn't even mention the problems of keeping enough ammo and missiles on hand for it to be effective for more than a couple flights. Elizabeth Maxwell nods. "fueling and munitions can be worried about after getting it, I guess…" Michael Donovan shrugs, "Frankly, I'll be happy if you can get everyone in and out of there in one piece." Heather O'Leary nods, "I'm going to head down tonight, and scout it out, I think…" She glances around the training room, and shrugs, she can work out some other time. Heather O'Leary turns for the stairs to go change into her 'Sneaky' Clothes. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at Heather. "Gonna go alone, then? I guess I'll see you later if you are. Don't be out too long or I might start getting lonely." Heather O'Leary smiles at Liz, "If you want to come along, I don't see a problem with it… But, you will have to…" She pauses, and shrugs, "Watch me closely. I have a little experience in sneaking around, and it is probably something you should learn too." Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little bit and nods. "Well, I didn't do too badly last time, I didn't think, but I'm always happy to come along." Michael Donovan grins lopsidedly, "Both of you be careful, alright?" Heather O'Leary smiles, "Hey, it's me!" She sounds like Han Solo, sure… and likely gets the same response, rolled eyes. Michael Donovan doesn't roll his eyes, but rather responds with a mildly sarcastic, "That's what has me concerned." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little. "It's us. Nothing will go wrong. Trust me." Heather O'Leary grins at Mike, "Love ya too, Mike." She heads up the stairs. Heather O'Leary heads up. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles, and slips upwards,. Elizabeth Maxwell slips into her black leather stuff, looks semi-disdainfully at the face paint as she tucks her hair under a stocking cap. Heather O'Leary looks over at Liz, "We can wait on the face paint till we get close to the Airport, if you want." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "It's okay. Last time I didn't wear any, but…" Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Well, we should wait anyway. We run into any Cops, and having face paint on might be hard to explain…" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and nods. "hmm, very true." she pulls her cap off and opens her coat. "There. That looks more natural…" Heather O'Leary smiles, and nods, "As if you ever looked anything but tasty…" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and blushes. "Thanks…" she hugs gently. Heather O'Leary smiles, and leads the way towards the truck. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at Heather and settles into the truck, looking out quietly. — A quiet pickup drive later -- Heather O'Leary parks the Truck near the fence, bordering LAX. Luckily it is not one of those Blue Laser Fences, and it is not electrified. Just covered along the top by razor wire, which can be outwitted, if one is careful enough. She climbs out of the truck, and closes the door carefully, so as to not make alot of sound. Elizabeth Maxwell glances around as she slips out of the truck, hmming at the fence. "that shouldn't be too hard to get through…" She closes the truck door very softly, tucking her hair under a stocking cap again, and putting the face paint on. "Easy recon." Heather O'Leary nods, "Shouldn't be… but we can't cut it, or they will know we were here…" She moves to the back of the truck, and pulls out a blanket from underneath the camper. She tosses it up, doubled over, to lay over the razor wire, "That should help." Her voice is soft, but it is not in a whisper, as the sound of a whisper is a sure way to get any sentry's attention. Elizabeth Maxwell looks quietly at the razorwire and nods, slipping heavy leather gloves out of her jacket pockets, speaking just as quietly. "I'm just glad I'm wearing thick leather clothes." Heather O'Leary nods, and offers Liz a boost up the fence, getting quiet. She herself is not wearing leather, but her clothes are made of rather strong, lightweight material just the same. Elizabeth Maxwell climbs the fence quietly, trying to get up herself, smiling at Heather, and carefully moving over the blanket. She shakes just a tiny bit, knowing what's underneath her, but keeps going, silently. Heather O'Leary waits for Elizabeth to be over the wire, before starting up on her own. Her gloves are strong enough to prevent the wire from cutting her hands, so she can, and will, reach right for the wire to pull herself up. Elizabeth Maxwell watches that with a slight wince, moving to let Heather get down next to her. She stretches out after moving, looking out onto the airport at large. ATTRIBUTE CHECK: NAME: Heather O'Leary ATTRIBUTE: Agility SUCCESS by 52 Heather O'Leary climbs over the fence, quickly, yet quiet as a mouse, although, that could be considered too noisy, with Visitors around. She lands quietly next to Liz, in her soft soled boots, and smiles at Liz. She pulled the blanket down, so as to not leave it where it could easily be spotted. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at Heather, slipping back to her, and hugging gently. Then she looks over towards the airport and nods. "Ready?" She takes Heather's hand gently. Heather O'Leary nods slightly, and leads the way along the fenceline, towards where she saw the Harrier. Elizabeth Maxwell slips in right behind, looking over the flat of the airport, towards where the Harrier is, then back forward to see anything in front of her. Visitor Shock Trooper 1 has left. Heather O'Leary makes a slight motion towards the Harrier, motioning for Liz to take the lead, while she watches for Visitors, or other guards. She doesn't let go of Liz's hand though, so she knows where she is going, well, trusting Liz to lead her correctly. Elizabeth Maxwell nods, slipping out in front, and watching very carefully. She tries to keep watching to the front, and keep some sense of what's around her, hoping to spot any problems well in advance. Heather O'Leary smiles slightly, only a couple Snakes in sight, and they are all watching the Visitor craft, not the Harrier. Than again, who would want to steal a Harrier, when there is so many other more advanced craft around? Elizabeth Maxwell watches as well, watching the ground in front of her as much as she does the lizards up at the fighters, wondering if there might be traps set up for unsuspecting interlopers trying to recon from the far ends of the field. The fence only had razorwire after all… The Pair of interlopers approach the Harrier. Almost close enough to touch a wing. Heather O'Leary shakes her head slightly, sometimes, these Visitors even surprise her. However, just to keep them on their toes, one starts to turn in the direction of the Harrier, and Heather squeezes Liz's hand, and stops, hopping Liz gets the idea. Elizabeth Maxwell stops as well, nodding to Heather and smiling. She waits, watching very quietly at the guards, frowning slightly. Heather O'Leary watches the guard carefully, waiting to see if he notices the two shadows within a shadow. Obviously he doesn't, as he turns back to the squad ships. Heather relaxes slightly, and releases Liz's hand. She moves forward slightly, and speaks very closely to Liz's ear, "I'm going to get in the Harrier, and check it over… tap on the fuselage twice, softly, if I need to freeze or three times, if I need to come out ready to shoot…" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "all right…" She watches around quickly, trying to make certain they aren't approached while slipping onto it. Heather O'Leary slips into the Harrier, but doesn't pull the Cockpit hatch closed, so as to not change the silhouette of the aircraft. She also gets low, so as to be almost invisible inside the craft. Heather O'Leary checks all the gauges, and smiles to herself, full fuel load, full weapons load. How did this thing get here in such pristine condition. Oh wait, there is an Air National Guard Hangar not to far away… this could be the only plane that was left inside… That makes sense, get it out here where the Snake's could watch it. You see a Visitor Guard looking towards the Harrier, Again. Elizabeth Maxwell keeps watching around, and taps the fuselage twice Heather O'Leary freezes, not moving. She waits to see if Liz is going to tap again. Elizabeth Maxwell freezes as well, hoping she's in the shadows enough to not be seen, since she's just a darkness among shadows. The Visitor Guard looking towards the Harrier, turns away. He does cast a quick second look at the Harrier, maybe noticing something strange, but not sure, so he looks away again, this time, at an approaching light in the distance. Heather O'Leary just waits semi-impatiently, but still all the same. Her eyes dart to the various gauges, while she waits. Elizabeth Maxwell sees the guard turn away, and slips very silently towards the cockpit. ATTRIBUTE CHECK: NAME: Heather O'Leary ATTRIBUTE: Perception SUCCESS by 54 Heather O'Leary notices the movement from below, so slowly turns her head, and lifts up to look at Elizabeth. Elizabeth Maxwell nods very quickly at Heather, to indicate it 'clear' for the moment. Then she goes back to watching that guard. Heather O'Leary nods slightly, and slowly climbs out of the Cockpit, having seen what she needed to see. She touches the ground, and ducks down behind the landing gear, to relax a bit before getting them out. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at that, and raises her eyebrows very silently in questioning, at Heather. Heather O'Leary nods, and than points to the fence. She shrugs slightly, hoping Liz will get the idea she is trying to pass along. Elizabeth Maxwell nods, slipping quietly out for the fence, with glance, biting her lip. Heather O'Leary watches for anything that might see Liz, while Liz moves to the fence. She'll wait till Liz gets there, before making her own move towards it. Now is the dangerous part, they have the info they need, and she hopes they don't get careless. Elizabeth Maxwell keeps slipping carefully for the fence, watching the ground, and her surroundings, trying to keep all her senses open for any kind of problem that might be out and about. Heather O'Leary waits a few more seconds, than sets off towards the fenceline, near where she stashed the blanket. Slowly but steadily is how she marks her progress now. Elizabeth Maxwell stops at the fence, turning around slowly to see if anyone is watching in their direction. The pair is either really good, or really lucky. No one even turns in their direction. Heather O'Leary gets to the fence, near Liz, gets the blanket, and slowly leads them along the fenceline towards where the truck is parked. She whispers softly, "Now that we got in, if we get caught, we have to make it look like we are coming in for a sneaky entrance. If I say anything louder than this, make it look like you are trying to get in, before we turn and run, ok?" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "Right…" Heather O'Leary tosses the blanket up over the razor wire, and motions for Liz to start up over the fence, while she keeps watch in all directions. Elizabeth Maxwell climbs up the fence slowly, biting her lip and watching back once in a while. She slips up and over the razorwires slowly and cautiously, trying to set herself down very quietly onto the ground back outside the fence. Heather O'Leary slips over the fence after Liz, pausing at the top to move the blanket. She gets over the fence, gets the blanket down, and moves quickly, but still quietly for the truck. She opens the door, gets in, sets the blanket behind the seat, and is glad they parked on a slight decline. Elizabeth Maxwell whews softly as she climbs back into the truck, glancing over. "So it has fuel… good." Heather O'Leary nods, "Full tank, Full Ammo Load for the Guns… It must have come from the Air National Guard Hangar. I even ran a check for possible emanations from the Plane. It has a good EMCON Computer. Nothing being transmitted on anything like a Visitor Channel. We should be in good shape." She puts the truck into neutral, and lets it roll down the incline a ways, before preparing to start the truck up, "So, should we head to the Club, or back to the ranch?" Elizabeth Maxwell blinks a little bit. "Wow. Good luck there. And hmm… whichever, I guess." Heather O'Leary smiles, "I want a shower, and a drink, but the club is closer…" She shrugs, "Screw it, I'd rather sleep in our bed, than some cot Elias has down in that basement." She starts the truck up, and away she drives, heading North. Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and nods. "A lot more private in our bed, anyway…" she wraps an arm around your back. "And we won't have to sleep with our clothes on." Heather O'Leary nods, "Something like that." She doesn't speed on the way north yet, just a little late night drive, coppers. She does reach into the Glove Box, and motions to a box of 'wet wipes' like Baby Diaper Wipes, and says, "That should get the worst of the face paint off… Make us less conspicuous." Elizabeth Maxwell oooohs, and grabs them quickly, grabbing a couple wipes and working on her face. "Getting this stuff off will make me feel better already." Heather O'Leary nods, "You know, I could almost have had the Harrier ready to take off… just flip the switch to power up the Engines, launched a Maverick at the Control Tower, and we could have gotten up, and on our way before the Visitors had much of a chance to respond." She sighs, but that would have left this truck behind, not to mention, we would have had a dogfight with at least one or two pursuing Skyfighters…" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Yeah… That or I'd have to sneak off and get the truck after the carnage started. I could probably get it driven back to the ranch, even if I don't qualify for a license." Heather O'Leary shakes her head, "You would have been in the back seat. It's a AV-8B, a two-seater Trainer… I would not have left you behind." She shrugs, and reaches a hand over to squeeze your leg, before motioning for a wet wipe of her own. Elizabeth Maxwell puts her hand over yours. "Thanks. But that'd mean leaving the truck behind still…" she hmms. "Eh. We'll have more people when we do it for real." (Drive back to ranch) ''LOG ENDS''''' Category:Log Category:RATED-PG